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Obsessed by the bitter tragedy of the martyrdom of his beloved Master, driven by a frenzy of despair to avenge that odious deed, and believing the author and instigator of that crime to be none other than the Shah himself, a certain Sadiq- i- Tabrizi, an assistant in a confectioner's shop in Tihran, proceeded on an August day (August 15, 1852), together with his accomplice, an equally obscure youth named Fathu'llah- i- Qumi, to Niyavaran where the imperial army had encamped and the sovereign was in residence, and there, waiting by the roadside, in the guise of an innocent bystander, fired a round of shot from his pistol at the Shah, shortly after the latter had emerged on horseback from the palace grounds for his morning promenade. The weapon the assailant employed demonstrated beyond the shadow of a doubt the folly of that half- demented youth, and clearly indicated that no man of sound judgment could have possibly instigated so senseless an act. (62:2) The whole of Niyavaran where the imperial court and troops had congregated was, as a result of this assault, plunged into an unimaginable tumult. The ministers of the state, headed by Mirza Aqa Khan- i- Nuri, the I'timadu'd- Dawlih, the successor of the Amir- Nizam, rushed horror- stricken to the side of their wounded sovereign. The fanfare of the trumpets, the rolling of the drums and the shrill piping of the fifes summoned the hosts of His Imperial Majesty on all sides. The Shah's attendants, some on horseback, others on foot, poured into the palace grounds. Pandemonium reigned in which every one issued orders, none listened, none obeyed, nor understood anything. Ardishir Mirza, the governor of Tihran, having in the meantime already ordered his troops to patrol the deserted streets of the capital, barred the gates of the citadel as well as of the city, charged his batteries and feverishly dispatched a messenger to ascertain the veracity of the wild rumors that were circulating amongst the populace, and to ask for special instructions.
(62:3)
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